Fuyutsuki
The Fuyutsuki is the keepsake sword of Hiko Seijūrō XIII, and in turn, a heirloom of the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū and all previous Hiko Seijuro of the school. Analysis A seemingly unpretending sword wielded by the first Hiko Seijūrō, the sword itself appears to be a tachi, a type of nihonto predecessor to the more well known katana, and of the period of the late Kamakura to early Nanbokucho period, where more elegant and wieldly curves of torizori in a blade's midsection were made for nihonto in contrast to the Heian period. Appropriate to its origins, tachi were made to be wielded in times of war and with the consideration of cutting down foes in a single blow immediately, and as such, its length is longer than the more recent katana; notable is the manner of grinding down and shortening tachi into katana by samurai to adhere to ages with laws on the length of swords. As such, in contrast to these historic trends, its form is unaltered, and while katana were also made for the purpose of a new generation of fighting, duels, and warfare post 1604, in where speed, close ranged duels, the conservation of energy, and battles decisive on the draw was the focus after years of warfare past of the Sengoku Jidai, the use of Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu having allowing users to bypass these technical limitations centuries prior since, and its principles of distancing itself from the influences and bias of society and politics in the flow of time, has the Fuyutsuki's spirit shine through with its untampered and preserved form by its users. Appearance In turn, the Fuyutsuki's appearance throughout the series is among the most varied aspect of its existence, though most share themes of modesty, unpretending simplicity, straightforward honesty, frankness, and to represent itself as a plain, yet deadly weapon. *In the anime and manga series, its mount or koshirae is that of a plain shirasaya mount; official illustrations and colorations by Nobuhiro Watsuki in the manga has the wood body in a dark mahogany, evocative of time aging the wood to showcase the sword's age, while the anime and anime studio based illustrations have the wood body in a more almost recent looking hinoki cypress based tan/beige body typical of shirasaya. *In the later OVA series of Rurouni Kenshin: Reminiscence and Reflection, the Fuyutsuki bears a very plain looking yet unpretending katana mount as typical to the Edo period, with merely black fittings, a mokko shaped tsuba in shakudo alloy, and its handle merely white lacquered rayskin wrapped with black ito. *For its live action movie appearances, the Fuyutsuki is instead with a more antiquated mounting, being a hoso tachi koshirae as used by more economical and lesser nobility; its handle's shape is with a bent typical to more antiquated variety of tachi to help host their koshizori bend of their blade, while its handle surface is with but pure rayskin pinned with small menuki on its edge to keep it in place and a silver inome tsuba with elaborate carving inlay work common to court appearance tachi koshirae, while its sheath is not seen, being used only without it in Hiko's last fight scene with Kenshin. In terms of the appearance of the blade, as mentioned prior, it is an olden tachi with features of toriizori and Late Kamakura to Early Nanbokucho aspects to its design. Its length has also varied from depictions throughout the series as well; the anime and manga has its handle to reach Hiko's waist when stuck into the ground, while the OVA series and the live action movies has it appear as a more katana length blade. Concerning its hamon and yakiba, it is a rather rigid yet consistent short and tight notare. Trivia *Its name of Fuyutsuki is rooted from Japanese poetry, used to evoke winter seasonal backdrops; the use of tsuki instead of getsu has more romantic and artistic meaning in its use. Although winter itself is known to be a season of leisure, sedentary conservation, and even as a time when gods meet in Japan, so does winter also hold connotations with death, judgement, harsh conditions, and barren loneliness. As the full moon itself is representative of transcendence, unyielding optimism and hope in the darkness, and a guide in hard times, so do many believe that the winter moon is more pristine and lucid in its season, akin to a single yet standing man atop a mountain or Buddha himself looking over the realm of Samsara, or with even more valorous connotation, heroes and the gods themselves able to witness the frank yet dour truths of the world in its most bleakest and extreme times. Category:Weapons Category:Swords